United States Department of Agriculture

Forest 

Service

General Technical 

Report NRS-141

Northern 

Research Station December 2014

PRESTO: Online Calculation of 

Carbon in Harvested Wood Products

Coeli M. Hoover, Sarah J. Beukema, Donald C.E. Robinson, 

Katherine M. Kellock, and Diana A. Abraham
Abstract

Carbon stored in harvested wood products is recognized under international carbon 

accounting protocols, and some crediting systems may permit the inclusion of 

harvested wood products when calculating carbon sequestration. For managers 

and landowners, however, estimating carbon stored in harvested wood products 

may be difficult. PRESTO (PRoduct EStimation Tool Online) is a Web-based tool 

that enables users to easily estimate the carbon stored in harvested wood products 

and the changes in this quantity over time. The tool may be used in an exploratory 

mode to examine the impacts of changing the amounts of longer- and shorter-lived 

products, or with specific harvest data to produce stand-level reports. The methods 

used are consistent with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 

Good Practice Guidance, as well as U.S. voluntary carbon accounting guidelines.

The Authors

COELI M. HOOVER is a research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service, Northern 

Research Station, Durham, NH. SARAH J. BEUKEMA is a senior systems analyst, 

DONALD C.E. ROBINSON is a senior systems ecologist, and KATHERINE M. 

KELLOCK is a senior systems analyst with ESSA Technologies Ltd., Vancouver, 

BC. DIANA A. ABRAHAM is a senior technical writer with ESSA Technologies Ltd., 

Peterborough, ON. Coeli Hoover is the corresponding author: to contact, email 

choover@fs.fed.us or call 603-868-7633.

Cover art designed and drawn by Eric Fiegenbaum, used with permission.
Contents

Introduction........................................................................................................ 1

Application Requirements.................................................................................. 1

User Interface .................................................................................................... 2

Home Page .................................................................................................... 2

New Stand ..................................................................................................... 3

 Entering Stand Details................................................................................ 3

 Calculating Carbon Storage ....................................................................... 4

 Viewing Results.......................................................................................... 5

 Editing Input Values.................................................................................... 6

Upload Batch ................................................................................................. 7

 Using the Upload Template—Manual Data Entry ....................................... 7

 Using the Upload Template—Copy and Paste Append .............................11

 Uploading Batch Data into the PRESTO Database...................................12

Review ..........................................................................................................16

 Add a New Stand.......................................................................................16

 Delete a Stand...........................................................................................17

 Filter the List of Stands..............................................................................17

 Edit Stands................................................................................................17

 Sort the List of Stands...............................................................................18

 Change the Number of Stands to Display .................................................18

 Export Calculations to Excel......................................................................18

Questions and Answers....................................................................................19

Acknowledgments............................................................................................ 20
Visit our homepage at: http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/

Published by:

U.S. FOREST SERVICE

11 CAMPUS BLVD SUITE 200

NEWTOWN SQUARE PA 19073

December 2014

Manuscript received for publication 12 September 2014
1

Introduction

Forest carbon is stored in harvested wood products. Although some carbon credit trading systems 

may give credit for this carbon, estimating the size of this carbon pool is often cumbersome, especially 

for small landowners. Many forest carbon calculators do not include the harvested wood products 

category, and managers must use coefficients and spreadsheets to estimate the carbon in wood 

products over time. The task becomes complicated when multiple stands or sequential partial harvests 

are involved. PRESTO (PRoduct EStimation Tool Online)is a Web-based tool to help land managers 

and landowners estimate the amount of carbon stored in products over time, based on harvest 

volume, geographic region, and wood type.1

 PRESTO can also be used in an “easy” mode, where 

detailed harvest volumes are not required, allowing landowners to estimate the effects of shifting 

the relative amounts of pulpwood and sawtimber harvested. Reports are available in two formats: 

a detailed report providing carbon estimates every 10 years for a 100-year period, or as a 100-year 

average value.

Application Requirements

PRESTO is an online tool for calculating the amount of carbon stored in harvested wood. It is linked 

to a database located on a remote server. To use PRESTO you must have:

•	 An active Internet connection and

•	 A PRESTO account (log in at http://presto.essa.com).

To request an account, go to the PRESTO login page and click on New user?; complete and submit 

the New User Registration form.

If you wish to upload multiple stands in batch mode, or export your results, you will also need:

•	 Microsoft Access® (2003 or later)—required to upload data about multiple stands using the 

Upload Batch feature.

•	 Microsoft Excel® (2003 or later)—required to copy information for multiple stands into the 

Access template for batch uploads, and required to export the results of carbon calculations

from PRESTO for further analysis.

1 PRESTO is applicable for forests in the conterminous United States only.
2

USER INTERFACE

Home Page

When you log in, PRESTO will open to its Home page (Fig. 1), which contains a brief description of 

the tool and a menu bar with a series of tabs that access all features and functions of the PRESTO Wood 

Calculator. More information about the development of PRESTO is provided on the Background tab.

At present, you can enter information about a new stand, upload information about multiple stands 

from an Access template file, calculate the amount of carbon stored for each of the harvested stands 

you have entered, export calculations to an Excel spreadsheet, and review summary information about 

all of the stands you have entered and for which calculations have been made.

Figure 1.—Screen capture of PRESTO home page (as of October 23, 2014).

From a development perspective, the tool is flexible. Any number of new tabs can be added to the 

interface to provide additional functionality as needed.

The header information on the Home page is visible on any page in PRESTO. At the top right of the 

header, there are four options: Home, Help, Report a Problem, and Logout. Click on Home from 

any page (other than the Home page) to return to the Home page. You can also return to the Home

page by clicking on the tree icon in the upper left corner of the header. On the Help page, click on 

the URL to access this PRESTO user guide, and use the email address provided to submit questions 

about PRESTO to technical support. Click on Report a Problem to access the PRESTO Bug 

Reporter form. Complete the required fields on this form to describe and submit to the support team 

the error you encountered while using PRESTO. Click on Logout to exit PRESTO.

Your feedback on current and potential future features of the PRESTO Wood Calculator would be 

greatly appreciated. Use the email address provided on the Home page to send us your comments.
3

New Stand

Clicking on the New Stand tab opens a Stand Details page (Fig. 2). Use the fields on this page to 

enter information about the harvest in your stand. The Notes field is optional. All other fields on this 

form must be filled in. If you have information about many stands to enter, you can use the Upload 

Batch option.

Entering Stand Details

The fields and options on the Stand Details page are:

Name Enter an informative name for the harvested stand (for example, a stand identifier 

number or a descriptive name). This is a free-form text field (accepts any character) 

that can accommodate a maximum of 50 characters.

Region Open the drop-down list and select the region in which your stand is located. The 

map beside the field boxes shows the location for each region.

Notes Enter information about the stand. This is a free-form text field (accepts any 

character) that can accommodate a maximum of 255 characters.

Area/Units Enter a numerical value (without commas) to indicate the size of the stand, and 

select the appropriate units (Acres or Ha) from the drop-down list on the right.

Calculate By Select the calculation method (Lump sum or Wood type) you wish to use from 

the drop-down list. For calculation by Lump sum, you need to know the relative 

proportion of sawlogs and pulpwood in the total harvest. For calculation by Wood 

type, you need to know the actual volumes harvested for sawlogs and pulpwood.

Figure 2.—Screen capture of Stand Details entry page, used to enter information on a single stand. To add multiple 

stands at once, use the Batch Upload process. The Notes field is optional and can be used to record information 

about the stand if desired. Choose Lump sum data entry to explore the effects of different levels of sawtimber and 

pulpwood harvest; use the Wood type entry when data on specific harvest amounts are available.
4

After you have selected a calculation option, PRESTO will automatically refresh the page and display 

the rest of the fields you need to fill. Do not click on the Save button at this point. If PRESTO 

throws an error, you will need to log out and log back in to clear it.

Calculating Carbon Storage

The calculation method you choose determines what additional information is required to complete 

the requested calculation.

To calculate by Lump sum:

1. If applicable, enter the total volume of Hardwood harvested, and select the appropriate units 

from the drop-down list at right.

2. If applicable, specify the percentage of the hardwood harvest destined for Sawlogs and the 

proportion destined for Pulpwood. These two values must sum to 100 percent, as in the 

example below (Fig. 3).

Figure 3.—Screen capture of Lump sum data entry form.

3. If applicable, repeat steps 1 and 2 for the Softwood component of the harvest.

4. When done, click on the Save button at the top of the page. PRESTO will perform the 

requested calculation and display the results.
5

To calculate by Wood type:

1. If applicable, specify the actual volumes of Hardwood harvested as Sawlogs and as 

Pulpwood, and select the appropriate units for each from the drop-down lists at right (Fig. 4).

2. If applicable, repeat the first step for the Softwood component of the harvest.

Figure 4.—Screen capture of Wood type data entry form.

3. When done, click on the Save button at the top of the page. PRESTO will perform the 

requested calculation and display the results.

Viewing Results

The results of PRESTO’s calculations are displayed on a refresh of the Stand Details page, along 

with a summary of the stand and harvest information you entered. The example below (Fig. 5) shows 

calculations by Wood type.

Figure 5.—Screen capture of Wood type calculation results showing the 100-year and 

average values for each harvested carbon pool.
6

All results are expressed in tonnes per hectare. Values for total carbon in storage after 100 years 

(C100) and values for annual average amount of carbon in storage (CAvg) are provided for five storage 

categories:

Products End-use products that have not been discarded or otherwise destroyed, such as 

construction products, containers, and paper products.

Landfill Discarded wood and paper products in landfills.

Stored The sum of Products and Landfill.

EnergyCapture Combustion of wood products with energy capture as the carbon is emitted to the 

atmosphere (alternatively called Energy).

NoCapture Carbon in harvested wood emitted to the atmosphere through combustion or 

decay without energy recapture (also called Emissions).

A 10 Year Report (Fig. 6) at the bottom of the page shows carbon storage calculations in 10-year 

increments, so you can see how carbon storage changes over time for each of the five storage categories.

Figure 6.—Screen capture of 10 Year carbon report. This report provides the 

values for the hardwood pulpwood carbon pools at 10-year intervals.

You can sort the values in the table by Year. To do this, click on any column header. Successive clicks 

toggle the sort between ascending (Year 0-100) and descending (Year 100-0) order.

Editing Input Values

If you need to change any of the stand details you entered, you can do so by clicking on the Edit

button at the top of the Stand Details page. When you have finished making your changes, click 

Save again. PRESTO will recalculate carbon storage based on your updated input and redisplay your 

results.

You can also edit your input from the Review page.
7

Upload Batch

Use the Upload Batch option (Fig. 7) to simultaneously enter information for multiple stands. Click 

on the Upload Batch tab to open the Stand Batch Upload page.

Using the Upload Template—Manual Data Entry

From the Stand Batch Upload page, download the Access template file by clicking on the PRESTO 

Batch Upload Template link. Save the file in a folder on your computer and then open it.

If necessary, enable all content in the database. Your copy of Access may be set to disable certain 

content for security reasons. You will need to enable this content to use the template. In Access 2007, 

do this by clicking on the Options button in the Security Warning message bar, and then clicking 

on the Enable this content radio button in the Security Alert window. In Access 2010, click on the 

Enable Content button in the yellow Security Warning message bar to enable all content.

If you do not see an option to enable content, it is likely that your copy of Access is set to block active 

content without providing you with notification. You will need to change this security setting in 

order to enable the content in the template. Close the template and follow the steps outlined below 

for your version of Access.

Figure 7.—Screen capture of Batch Upload page. The batch upload allows data from multiple stands to be 

loaded into PRESTO at one time. Batch upload is available for both the Lump sum and Wood type data 

entry methods.
8

To change security settings in Access 2007:

1. Open MS Access.

2. Click on the Office button (upper left corner), and then click on the Access Options button 

at the bottom of the window.

3. Go to the Trust Center (bottom portion of the frame at left) and click on the Trust Center 

Settings button.

4. On the Trust Center window, click on Macro Settings in the frame at left.

5. Click on the Disable all macros with notification option.

6. Click OK and close Access.

7. Open the PRESTO Batch Upload Template and enable the active content by clicking on 

the Options button in the Security Warning message bar, and then clicking on the Enable 

this content radio button in the Security Alert window.

To change security settings in Access 2010:

1. Open MS Access.

2. Under the File menu, click on the Options button near the bottom of the frame at left.

3. Go to the Trust Center (bottom portion of the frame at left) and click on the Trust Center 

Settings button.

4. On the Trust Center window, click Macro Settings in the frame at left.

5. Click on the Disable with notification radio button.

6. Click OK and close Access.

7. Open the PRESTO Batch Upload Template and enable the active content by clicking on 

the Enable Content button in the yellow Security Warning message bar.

Once all content is enabled, you will see a blank form with a menu bar at the top, and a series of 

buttons across the bottom (Fig. 8).

Figure 8.—Screen capture 

of PRESTO Batch Upload 

Template. Select the button 

for the appropriate data 

entry method to activate 

the data entry form. If the 

buttons do not respond, 

follow the instructions to 

enable all macro content.
9

Menus

File The only option under this menu is Exit, which closes the Access template. You can 

also exit the template by clicking on the Close and Exit button at the bottom of the 

form.

Edit This menu contains options that enable you to replicate records in the Lump sum and 

Wood type data forms, or Copy them from an Excel file and Paste Append them into 

the data forms.

Help Click on the About option to see information about the Access template; click on the 

Help option for guidance on how to use the template.

Buttons

Info Click on this button to open the form that provides information about the 

Access template (the same form that can be accessed from Help | About).

Import Lump Sum Click on this button to open the data form required to enter stands for 

which you know the percentage of sawlogs and pulpwood in the harvest.

Import Wood Type Click on this button to open the data form required to enter stands for 

which you know the actual volume harvested for sawlogs and pulpwood.

Review Click on this button to open a form that provides a read-only display of 

the data you entered.

Close and Exit Close the Access template by clicking on this button, or by choosing Exit

from the File menu.

To manually populate a Batch Upload Template:

1. Click on the Import Lump Sum button to enter stands for which you know the 

percentage of sawlogs and pulpwood in the harvest.

2. Enter information about your stands into the fields of the Batch Upload – Lump 

Sum data form. No fields in this form can be left blank. When there is no harvest for a 

particular wood type, enter a zero and select any units. Use the tab key on your keyboard 

to move from one cell to the next, until you have entered data into every field.

3. When done, click on the Validate button to ensure that your data will upload into the 

Access template without errors. If the data you entered violate any of the validation rules 

(such as missing values), an error message will appear directing you to correct the error 

or cancel data entry. When validation is successful, the data you entered will be imported 

into the template database, and summary information for each stand will be displayed on 

the Batch Upload Template form.

4. Click on the Import Wood Type button at the bottom of the template to enter stands for 

which you know the actual volume harvested for sawlogs and pulpwood.
10

5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to enter your remaining stands. In the example below (Fig. 9), stands 

have been entered using both calculation modes.

Figure 9.—Screen shot of Batch Upload Template records. This screen lists all records that 

were uploaded and allows the user to select and review records.

6. You can review the data you entered for any stand by selecting the record for that stand on 

the Batch Upload Template (left-click to highlight it) and then clicking on the Review

button at the bottom of the form. The Review form (Fig. 10) is read-only; you cannot make 

changes here to the data you entered.

7. Click Delete if you wish to remove the selected record from the template database, or Close

to return to the Batch Upload Template.

8. When done, click on the Close and Exit button (or select Exit from the File menu) to close 

the Access template.

Figure 10.—Screen shot of Batch Upload record review form. Note that data may not be edited 

from within this form.
11

Using the Upload Template—Copy and Paste Append

You can also enter information into the Batch Upload Template from an Excel spreadsheet by using 

the Edit | Copy and Edit | Paste Append options in the Lump sum and Wood type data forms. The 

fields in your Excel spreadsheet must be in the same order as the fields in the data forms, and your 

data must comply with the validation rules in the Access template; be sure to use the same Region

abbreviations and Units as in the drop-down lists.

To assist with the process of importing data from Excel into the Access template, a Template Helper

has been provided. This is an Excel file that contains the required fields in the required order for each 

calculation mode, and drop-down lists for Region and Units. Download the file from the Stand 

Batch Upload page by clicking on the Template Helper link (Fig. 11).

Save the file in a folder on your computer. Open the file and enter your data.

To populate an Access data form by using Copy and Paste Append:

1. With the Access Batch Upload Template open, open the Lump Sum data form (Import 

Lump Sum button) to enter stands for which you know the percentage of sawlogs and 

pulpwood in the harvest.

Figure 11.—Screen shot of the Stand Batch Upload page showing the location of the Template Helper 

link. Use of this spreadsheet will ensure that data are formatted correctly for upload.
12

2. Open the Excel worksheet that contains your lump sum data; select only the data (not the 

field headings) and copy (Ctrl-C or use the copy option in Excel) to place the data on your 

clipboard.

3. Toggle over to the Batch Upload - Lump Sum Access data form and click in the first cell of 

the first empty row.

4. From the Edit menu, select Paste Append.

5. If you encounter a paste error, you may be missing a value in a required field (bold column 

names in the Template Helper). You can see the number of records that were NOT added 

to the template by clicking on the Paste Errors button in the bottom left corner of the data 

form. Review your data, ensuring all required fields are fully populated, and try again.

6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 to copy and paste append your wood type data.

The Edit | Copy option on the Lump Sum and Wood Type data forms can also be used to replicate 

records already in the template.

To replicate stand data already in a Lump Sum or Wood Type data form:

1. With your Access data form open (for example, Lump Sum), select the records you wish to 

replicate (left-click and drag to select multiple contiguous records; the form will not allow 

you to select noncontiguous records).

2. From the Edit menu, select Copy and then select Paste Append.

3. The selected records will be appended to the existing records in the data form.

4. Edit the values as needed and then click Validate to upload the records into the PRESTO 

Batch Upload Template.

5. When done, click Close and Exit to close Access and return to the Stand Batch Upload

page in PRESTO.

Note to users with Access 2013:

The Paste Append command may not appear under the Edit menu, but may be located on the Add 

Ins menu. Click in the first cell of the batch upload data form to activate it and select Add Ins | Paste 

Append from the menu bar. If the command is not active, you may access this function by adding 

the Paste Append button to your Quick Access Toolbar. Select the drop-down arrow on the Quick 

Access Toolbar and select Customize Quick Access Toolbar | More Commands. Choose Paste 

Append from the list of Popular Commands, and click on the Add button to add the function to 

your toolbar.

Uploading Batch Data into the PRESTO Database

When you have successfully entered your data into the PRESTO Batch Upload Template, the next 

step is to upload those data into the PRESTO database.
13

To upload data into the PRESTO database:

1. From the Stand Batch Upload page (Fig. 12) in PRESTO, click on the Browse button.

2. Navigate to the PRESTO Batch Upload Template file you just populated, click on it to 

select it, then click Open. The File Upload window will close, and you will see the name of 

the file you just selected displayed beside the Browse button on the Stand Batch Upload

page.

3. Click on the Upload button to start the batch upload. A status bar will show the progress of 

the upload. Uploading stand information from the Access template into PRESTO includes 

the process of carbon calculation for each stand (you can see the results of those calculations 

by clicking on the Review tab).

Figure 12.—Screen shot showing the location of the Browse button on the Stand Batch Upload page.
14

4. When the upload is completed, PRESTO will display a Template Upload page (Fig. 13) 

that identifies the Import template file by name (note the automatically revised filename), 

provides an UploadID, confirms the number of stands imported, and lists the StandID

numbers for each uploaded stand.

5. On the Template Upload page, click on the UploadID to see a summary list of the stands 

contained in the upload. For each stand, the StandID, Stand Name, Calculation Mode, the 

Added On date, and the username of the person it was AddedBy (your username) will be 

displayed. Use the Back button of your browser to return to the Template Upload page.

6. You can also view the stand details for each of the uploaded stands. To do this, click on a 

hyperlinked StandID to open a Stand Details page for the selected stand. Use the Back

button of your browser to return to the Template Upload page if you wish to view the 

details of another stand. Alternatively, you can view details for any stand you have entered 

from the Review tab on the PRESTO menu bar.

Figure 13.—Screen shot of Template Upload summary report. This report provides a list of the stands 

that were successfully uploaded into PRESTO.
15

At any time, you can review all of the uploads you have made. To do this, click on the Upload Batch

tab on the PRESTO menu bar to open the Stand Batch Upload page. From there, click on the View 

Uploads link (Fig. 14).

This action opens a page that displays a table listing all of the template files you have uploaded into 

the PRESTO database. Each upload has a unique numerical identifier. Click on a hyperlinked ID

to see a summary of the data uploaded from the corresponding template file. Use the Back button of 

your browser to return to the table.

Figure 14.—Screen shot showing the location of the View Uploads link on the Stand Batch Upload 

page.
16

Review

Click on the Review tab to open the Review Stands page. This page displays the full list of stands 

you have entered, and shows the results of carbon calculations. From this page, you can add a new 

stand, delete one or more stands, edit stands, filter your list of stands, sort your list of stands by any 

of the parameter headings, change the number of stands displayed per page, and export the carbon 

calculations for some or all of your stands to an Excel spreadsheet.

Add a New Stand

To add a new stand, click on the[ ] Add new item hyperlink in the upper left corner of the form 

(Fig. 15).

Figure 15.—Screen shot of the Review Stands page showing the location of the Add New Item option. 

This link may be used to add additional stands, if needed.

This action opens the Stand Details form; enter your stand information as described above for 

Entering Stand Details.
17

Delete a Stand

To delete a stand, click on the red Delete marker (Fig. 16) beside the stand you wish to remove. All 

information about deleted stands, including carbon calculations, is removed from the PRESTO database.

Figure 16.—Screen shot of Review Stands page showing the location of the Delete Item button. 

This option may be used to delete the data for a particular stand.

Filter the List of Stands

You can filter your list of stands on the Review Stands page (Fig. 17) by region. Open the Region

drop-down list and select a region; only the stands from that region will be displayed. All stands in 

your list will be filtered, not just the ones you have displayed (if less than – All –).

Figure 17.—Screen shot of Review Stands page showing the location of the Filter by Region dropdown menu. If working with data from a variety of regions, you may use this option to display only 

those stands in the selected region.

Edit Stands

You can edit any stand in your list by clicking on the hyperlinked stand ID value. This action opens the 

Stand Details page where you can make your edits as described above in Editing Input Values. When 

you save your work, PRESTO will recalculate the carbon storage values based on your revised input.
18

Sort the List of Stands

Sort your list of stands by clicking on one of the parameter headings. For example, to sort by Area, 

click on the Area heading. Successive clicks will toggle the sort between ascending and descending 

order. All stands in your list will be sorted, not just the ones you have displayed (if less than – All –).

Change the Number of Stands to Display

You can change the number of stands displayed per page on the Review Stands page (Fig. 18). For 

example, if you have entered more than 10 stands and wish to see them all on a single page, select the 

next largest value (or – All –) from the Items Per Page drop-down list.

Figure 18.—Screen shot of the drop-down 

menu used to select the number of records 

to display on the Review Stands page.

Export Calculations to Excel

You can export the stand details, including carbon calculations, for some or all of the stands you 

entered to an Excel spreadsheet.

To export carbon calculations to Excel:

1. From the Review Stands page, click on the Excel icon [ ] at the bottom of the list of stands.

2. Name the file and save it to a folder on your computer, then open it.

3. All information (except stand ID) about all of the stands listed on the Review Stands page 

will be exported to Excel (Fig. 19).

Figure 19.—Screen shot of Excel spreadsheet created by using the Export Stands to Excel option on the Review Stands page.

4. You can also export information only for stands in a particular region. To do this, filter your 

list of stands by the region you want, and then click on the Excel icon to export. Only the 

filtered records will be exported.
19

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Why are there different ways to enter data? When would I use “Lump Sum”?

Data may be entered into PRESTO in several ways, depending on your objectives. Lump sum data 

entry is an “exploring” mode and does not require detailed harvest volumes. One of the issues that 

managers and landowners often want to understand is the effect of changing rotation length, which 

changes the product mix. Using lump sum data entry, you can quickly assess the differences in 

stored carbon over time with varying amounts of pulpwood and sawtimber. The wood type entry is 

appropriate when you know your harvested volumes of pulpwood and sawtimber and are working 

with just a few stands. For users with multiple harvests and stands, using the batch upload template 

will eliminate the need to enter each stand individually.

How does PRESTO calculate carbon from harvest volume?

PRESTO is based on the methods and ratios that were developed to support the 1605b program 

of voluntary greenhouse gas reporting; these methods are consistent with the IPCC guidance on 

harvested wood products. For a detailed explanation, see Smith and others (2006).2

Why are there only categories of hardwood and softwood, and not individual species?

The ratios that PRESTO uses were developed as general ratios for each region, compiled from 

available data. Species-specific ratios were not developed as the available data sets would be too small 

to produce values that could be widely applied.

Does PRESTO have built-in error checking? What if I make a mistake when I enter my data?

PRESTO checks that the correct fields have been completed, but does not have an error-checking 

routine to flag extreme values. If you enter a harvest of 120,000,000 mbf of hardwood sawtimber 

per acre in the Lake States region, PRESTO will apply the correct coefficients to the data that you 

entered and return a result, even though such a harvest value does not make sense. Please enter data 

carefully, and if using the batch upload, check your spreadsheet for errors before loading your data 

into PRESTO. Always check your output to ensure that the carbon values returned are logical for 

a given harvest level. If they seem to be unreasonable, review your stand to ensure that the correct 

values and units were entered.

Why is there no option to select a bioenergy product, such as wood chips or pellets?

Although the methods to account for the amount of energy or heat units that could be produced 

from a given harvest value are straightforward, many other factors are involved in bioenergy 

calculations, and these are often the result of operational or policy parameters (for example, are 

the chips to fuel a cogeneration system or for direct production of electricity?). As such, bioenergy 

calculation is outside the scope of this tool.

2 Smith, J.E.; Heath, L.S.; Skog, K.E.; Birdsey, R.A. 2006. Methods for calculating forest ecosystem and 

harvested carbon with standard estimates for forest types of the United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-343. 

Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 216 p.
20

How do I interpret and use the report? Why are there two types of reports, the 10-year and the 100-year 

average?

Carbon that may be considered to be stored is reported in the “Stored” column, and is the sum of 

the carbon in products in use and carbon in products in landfills. The amounts of carbon in the 

categories change over time, as products remain in use, are discarded to landfills, decay in landfills, 

are burned, etc. To estimate total carbon for a stand, you would add the value in the “Stored” 

column to your estimate of carbon in your stand (depending on the pools that you choose to 

inventory and estimate, this may be just live tree carbon, or may include other pools such as standing 

dead and down dead). The 10-year reports illustrate how the carbon in the different pools shifts and 

changes over time. The 100-year average represents the average carbon in that pool over a 100-year 

period, and is the metric used by the California Air Resources Board protocol. If you want to explore 

the effects of changing the mix of products between wood types and pulpwood and sawtimber, either 

report format may be used. In any case, the value in the “Stored” column is the variable to compare 

between harvest scenarios.

What about logging slash? Does PRESTO track the carbon harvested but not removed from the stand?

No, PRESTO deals only with the main stem and does not track slash. If you are interested in a 

more comprehensive carbon report, consider using the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS), which is 

a stand-level growth and yield modeling system that allows the user to simulate a variety of harvests 

and other management treatments. The Fire and Fuels Extension to FVS includes options for standlevel carbon reports and harvested carbon reports. By using both reports, you can estimate carbon 

in a wide variety of pools, and manage logging slash in several ways. For more information on these 

reports, see Hoover and Rebain (2011)3. Note that FVS requires detailed data and is a complex 

model requiring a significant amount of time to learn.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was partially supported by funding from the U.S. Forest Service, Climate Change 

Advisor’s Office. The authors thank Steve Bick, Rich Birdsey, Steve Forry, Dan Rider, and Robert 

Smith for beta testing PRESTO, reviewing the documentation, and providing helpful feedback on 

the tool and the user guide. We are also grateful to Eric Fiegenbaum for creating the cover art.

3 Hoover, C.M.; Rebain, S.A. 2011. Forest carbon estimation using the Forest Vegetation Simulator: seven 

things you need to know. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-77. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 16 p.
Printed on Recycled Paper

Hoover, Coeli M.; Beukema, Sarah J.; Robinson, Donald C.E.; Kellock, Katherine M.; 

Abraham, Diana A. 2014. PRESTO: online calculation of carbon in harvested 

wood products. GTR-NRS-141. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 20 p.

Carbon stored in harvested wood products is recognized under international carbon 

accounting protocols, and some crediting systems may permit the inclusion of harvested 

wood products when calculating carbon sequestration. For managers and landowners, 

however, estimating carbon stored in harvested wood products may be difficult. 

PRESTO (PRoduct EStimation Tool Online) is a Web-based tool that enables users 

to easily estimate the carbon stored in harvested wood products and the changes in 

this quantity over time. The tool may be used in an exploratory mode to examine the 

impacts of changing the amounts of longer- and shorter-lived products, or with specific 

harvest data to produce stand-level reports. The methods used are consistent with the 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Good Practice Guidance, as well as 

U.S. voluntary carbon accounting guidelines.

KEY WORDS: harvested wood products, carbon accounting, forest carbon, HWP carbon 

estimation

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